On the DL
Notes from Digital Learning and School Library Services
March 2021
BCS Staff,
To be the shortest month, February is packed full of amazing experience. This week we hosted our Middle School Battle of the Books - virtually. Five middle school teams maximized our collaborative tools to compete using Google Meet and Google Docs. Scoring was collaboratively managed using Google Sheets. Judges, time keepers, moderators, scorekeepers, coaches, and most importantly students, ran a fun competition all while in their respective homes, schools, and offices. It wasn't quite as much fun as the real thing but it was a great experience. Congrats to CGMS for taking home first place!
We continue to focus on being safe online with our Be Cyber Safe! initiative. Note the Be Cyber Safe! video explaining how to use these resources in a section below. Proactively preventing our students from harming themselves or others is the goal of this initiative, but classroom teachers are the driving force to make it happen. March's theme, Cyberbullying and Hate Speech, is especially important. As educators, we must remind our students (and remember ourselves) that typed word carries as heavy a weight as the spoken word. People often hide behind the guise of anonymity or disconnectedness online communication provides. These resources are designed to teach students how to avoid these behaviors. The Expert Tip this month comes from Meredith Lloyd, BCS School Counselor Specialist.
As we move into Spring, keep your eyes on your email. Our DLSs are coming up with new PDs to offer all the time. If you haven't caught one of their Pear Deck, Be Cyber Safe! or SMART Suite sessions you are missing out. Also Save the Dates - June 2, 3 and 4, for this year's Teacher Tech Camp. There are some exciting ideas on the horizon and we will be looking for presenters and participants!
Thanks for all you do,
AD
Copyright Corner
(click the down arrow to see the response to the question)
This appears on a unit, workbook, etc. that I purchased. What can I do with it? What can't I?
"Permission is granted to the individual teacher who purchases one copy of this book to reproduce the student activity material for use in his or her classroom only. Reproduction of these materials for colleagues, an entire school or school system, or for commercial sale is strictly prohibited. No part of this publication may be transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher. "
There is actually quite a bit to dissect here AND the answer maybe slightly different than it may have been a year ago. Context matters. First, the person who bought this, not their teammate, not the person who took over the subject from them, but the actual person who paid for it, can use it in their classroom and can make copies FOR THEIR STUDENTS. Not everyone else. Where it gets complicated is in the last statement that bars transmission. Realistically, and digital format shared with others is transmission. However, the online classroom is now an extension of the traditional classroom and no one can argue that. Therefore, you can share with students in a closed classroom setting (ie. Google Classroom.) Can you put it in your Google Slides? Yes, but....you can't then share that slide with anyone who isn't a student rostered in your class.
School Library Spotlight
Celebrating Black History with a Book Bistro
Students at CGMS enjoyed a month-long celebration of literature by black authors by attending the Black History Book Bistro through their ELA classes this February.
Through nonfiction nibbles, beverages and biographies, historical fiction fruit, and realistic fiction fish, students explored four genres while enjoying the ambiance of a bistro setting. Complete with a soundtrack of music by black artists playing softly in the background, students learned about famous African Americans and historic movements important to our culture while others got lost in fictional books with black characters.
In this COVID-safe bistro environment, students sat at individual bistro tables and enjoyed pre-packaged snacks and beverages donated by community sponsors as they reviewed g a digital menu of books. Via google slides, students took a peek at book covers and read a short synopsis of each featured book. Each slide indicated if the title would be found in the print collection, the digital collection on Sora, or both! Students then created a digital foldable highlighting some of their favorite discoveries from their bistro experience. Most importantly, each patron left with a print or digital book from the library's Black History Collection.
It was a delight to have an event during these uncertain times and provide students with an opportunity to explore materials that they might not otherwise explore on a typical media center visit. By highlighting this collection during February, it is our hope that students will continue to select books similar to those that they became excited about while attending the Black History Book Bistro.
April Rogerson, School Library Media Coordinator- Cedar Grove Middle School
Digital Learning Resources
Reflex math is available to students via Clever and is rostered from Powerschool. Reflex math focuses on the mastery of basic facts which include addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division for grades 2-5.
Students get started by connecting with their teacher in Reflex then completing a quick check on fluency in Crabby's Fact Fair. From there, students complete fast paced games that focus on math facts while earning tokens for progress and effort. These tokens can be spent on clothes and accessories for their avatar or to decorate their progress tree.
As they complete their games, data is collected and available to their teachers with reporting. Teachers can monitor student usage and progress.
Students are pushed to earn their green light that indicates a number of correct facts on a given day. A green light indicates completion of a day of practice that shows gains towards practicing math facts successfully.
Since students work asynchronously, they can continue to work towards their goals at their own pace. Reflex has three tiers of intervention that include:
Tier 1: Core Instructional Interventions
Tier 2: Targeted Instructional Interventions
Tier 3: Intensive Individual Interventions
Since Reflex math is adaptive, students access the level they need and practice the skills targeted for them to help them move towards their goal.
Newsela is a platform (accessed through Clever) that focuses on literacy skills development through news.
Students can take real-time assessments that are aligned to the first eight Common Core Anchor Standards for Reading. Each article has five reading levels, and many are available in Spanish.
It is an adaptive program, meaning that customized student reading levels will be set based on grade level, quiz performance data, and teacher or student set Lexile levels.
You can practice annotation strategies, create writing prompts, or use previously generated prompts.
Here are a couple of tips and tricks to get you started:
Use the search settings (bar located on the left of your homepage) to filter and look for what article/resource type you need. Are you looking for a positive, uplifting article? Check out Good News and select an article you love! En Español will list all articles available in Spanish, but you can review them in English as well.
Use the Reading Summary in the Binder tool to track student progress overtime. You can see average annotation amounts, reading levels, minutes read per article, and more!
Create text sets and assignments that can be shared to others at your school! Text sets can be utilized to provide student choice. You can customize directions/instructions for all student assignments.
Contact your Digital Learning Specialist to learn more and lookout for advertised professional development opportunities!
Have you been searching for a drag-and-drop based design platform that allows easy creation of anything from infographics to social media graphics? Look no further!
Canva, a Google for Education platform, is a design platform that can allow you and your students to create engaging, organized graphic designs using a variety of templates. It is free to all teachers and students K-12!
Teachers can use Google Classroom or Clever to create class rosters. Share assignments directly to your students! Students can collaborate in real-time, leaving comments and sharing templates on others' works. Other examples of templates include...
Worksheets,
Presentations,
Classroom decor kits,
Video intros and outros,
Web banners,
And posters.
Creations can be shared directly from Canva to Google Classroom and Remind. With the click of a button, they can also go into presentation mode, shared as a website, or downloaded as PNG, JPG, PDF, PPT, Video, GIF.
Click here to get started with the sign-up process today and begin exploring these free features to step-up the creation game in your learning space.
Did you know that Discovery Education (DE) has TONS of resources to help you learn about ways to incorporate their content into your classroom?
Just getting started? This channel has a step by step guide to help you use Discovery Education resources in your lessons.
Been using DE and want to learn more? In their Spotlight on Strategies channel, you’ll find research-based strategies for integrating Discovery Education digital curriculum resources in meaningful, effective, and practical ways.
Explore Resources-Within your SMART Learning Suite Online Classroom (SLSO), click "Explore Resources" . Here you will find hundreds of lessons ready for you to implement. They are divided into collections and topics. It's as simple as clicking "save to library". Check it out today to enhance engagement and interaction in your classroom!
Shout It Out-You can now add a title to "Shout it Out" activities. The title can be your question and will appear at the top of the screen in your SLSO classroom.
Magnify Images -You can now magnify images in Super Sort, Match it Up and Flip Out activities. Clicking the magnifying button always students to make the image larger.
Custom Themes- Add custom themes to questions in Super Sort, Flip Out and Fill-in-the-Blanks activities.
Image Options-You can add images as answers in Speed it Up and Gameshow activities.
New Self-Paced Course on Curating Content in #GoOpenNC
We are so excited to try something new with our monthly webinars for #GoOpenNC. The webinar is now available on-demand in a mini Canvas course (you will need to login to NCEES via NCEdCloud to register).
The course is designed to be completed in one hour and NCEES will apply 0.1 CEU of Digital Learning Competency Credit to your transcript within 48 hours of completing the course. The course is available until May 31, 2021
New Mini-Course: Remix and Add Your Own Content to #GoOpenNC!
Our next #GoOpenNC mini-course is now available for self-registration on NCEES. Learn how to remix and add your own resources to #GoOpenNC.
Each mini-course is designed to take one hour to complete and within 48 hours of course completion, 0.1 CEU of Digital Learning Competency Credit will be applied to your transcript!
Register here (must login to NCEdCloud): https://bit.ly/3amydp9
Did you know that some of the interactive panels in BCS allow you to connect WITHOUT USB and HDMI cables? With our newest additions, the Newline panels, this is super easy to do! You will need to download Display Note (available in the Software Center) to make it work. Then, it’s just three easy steps:
Launch the software on your computer.
Tap the Screen Sharing on the board.
Enter the code displayed on the board into the software when prompted to share your screen.
Don’t have a Newline? The Boxlight has this ability as well, with the Unplug'd software. (also available in the Software Center)
More information on ALL of our Interactive panels can be found at bit.ly/BCS_InteractivePanels
Click on the image below for more details on the Newline panel.
Google Docs has added a built in citation builder! No need for an add-on or external site - just follow the prompts and you'll have a list of your resources to add to your work in no time! Want to learn more? Check out THIS resource to get started!
If the information created by Google is incorrect, there is a place to provide feedback for Google.
